Two more Lakeland Police Officers officers out in wake of sex scandal

WFTS Staff

4:24 PM, Jul 16, 2013

9:51 AM, Aug 16, 2013

Two officers with the Lakeland Police Department resigned Tuesday in the wake of a major sex scandal. Lt. Al Wilson, who was with the LPD for 21 years, and George Vidal, with LPD for 17 years both resigned in lieu of termination.

WFTS

WFTS

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WFTS

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LAKELAND, Fla. - A high ranking officer with the Lakeland Police Department retired on Tuesday and a second officer resigned in the wake of a major sex scandal.

Lt. Al Wilson, who was with the LPD for 21 years, informed Chief Lisa Womack of his decision.

Sue Eberle, the crime analyst at the center of the scandal, said that Lt Wilson last year took her hand and placed it on his private parts over his clothes. Officer Loretta Jackson told investigators with the State Attorney's Office that she remembered Eberle showing her a text message sent by Lt. Wilson that his wife was out of town and he wanted to visit Eberle who was out of town for sex

Lt. Al Wilson described Sue Eberle as a big flirt and that she tried to get him to have sex with her on many occasions. Wilson denied grabbing her butt, but admitted on one occasion she rubbed up against him in his office and he touched her over her clothing between her legs. He said it was a flirtatious thing that got out of hand.

Wilson was also at the center of a recent I-Team investigation which revealed he was involved in 6 other internal affairs investigations in the past 7 years (see http://wfts.tv/12uQ7cN ).

Al Wilson started working at Lakeland Police in 1992. He was promoted to sergeant in 1997 and promoted to lieutenant in 2003. He resigned in lieu of termination.

The other officer, George Vidal, was with LPD for 17 years.

He originally denied to investigators that he had sex with Eberle, but then remembered an incident from eight years ago in which they had sex in a closet. Vidal said he had a low blood sugar episode while with Eberle and the details of the encounter were foggy. Vidal was scheduled for a pre-disciplinary hearing Wednesday, but resigned today instead.

Both will be eligible for retirement pay or pension based on their length of service.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.